Before joining Off Course almost 11 years ago, I spent a great deal of time guiding people on adventures all over Australia. It’s a passion that still burns bright, and with a bit of time up my sleeve this year I felt it’s time to direct some focus back into that passion. I would like […]
Join us for a slide night as David McCourt recounts the story of taking “the long way home” by bike and shares his amazing experience with us.Here’s a little insight into his adventure and what he has in store for us. Words & Images: David McCourt In June 2022 I left my front door in […]
Words & Photos by Tom and Sophie. A little over three years ago, Sophie and I decided that we would take an extended breakfrom work and finally put our long-dreamt travel plans to action. We got lucky with a spot in hotequarantine in New Zealand, Sophie’s home and the only country we could get to […]
Cool Stuff Happening Inside Hubs! September 11th, 6pm. Tickets: FREE!(please book so we can monitor numbers) We’re hosting an info night in-store to cover all your burning questions around both internally geared Rohloff Hubs and Dynamo Hub lighting and charging systems. We’ll be discussing why Dynamo hubs/lights are awesome for everyday cycling and why Rohloff […]
**Event Currently at capacity**Please email will@offcourse.bike to join the waitlist should there be any cancellations. Come and join us for our inclusive and supported fun-filled 3 day ride in Gariwerd. This three day route has been created from many years of experience riding backroads into the National Park from Ararat, thus THE DIRTY (Ara)RAT was […]
Off Course is excited to be teaming up with Surly Bikes to celebrate the 2024 Melburn Roobaix. Never ridden a ‘Roobaix? You’re missing out! While the route won’t be released until the morning of the event, Melburn Roobaix has built a reputation over two decades for it’s big ‘rolling party’ vibes taking in the best […]
The 90’s were a wild time, punk rock was beginning to fuse with techno, fashion choices were often loud, and many of the bike colour schemes at the time bore a similar resemblance. Mountain bikes were a pretty new thing, the R&D department for most companies were the team riders, technology was developing in leaps […]
Hey Everyone, we all had a nice little break over the new year with us getting in some family time, R&R and a few bike rides. We were straight back into it early January with the traditional freshly painted workshop floor greeting us on day one. There’s lots of exciting things on the go for […]
It’s a rare treat that we get to welcome a whole new brand into the store. We’ve just landed our first delivery of Wilde bikes out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Wilde Bikes is the most recent project from Jeff Frane of All-City Cycles fame. Jeff has an incredible talent for designing bikes which perform great, are […]
Frazer is part way around the world on a bike tour having ridden from his homeland of Scotland back to Melbourne where we helped build his bike a bit over 18 months ago.
We’ve been doing custom builds on Velo Orange frames almost as long as we’ve been open – their classic aesthetic with modern touches has always been appealing to us. Sharing both old world charm with all the modern convenience of thru axles and disc brakes makes for a really functional and beautiful bicycle.
We first got to know Cjell Monē from his trickle of blog posts outlining some his bike tours including 3 Tour Divide runs, 2 AZT rides, trips through India, Thailand, Nepal, NZ and our beautiful homeland of Australia to name a few. At a point along the way he began making his own bikes for his adventures in the back of a 1977 Toyota Camper. Some time has passed, his Toyota camper has grown into a larger bread delivery truck and his production has expanded to include 3 stock models being made in Taiwan.
It’s hard to believe the little bicycle workshop on Prentice street has grow into the business it is today, supporting bicycle adventurers all over the world! To celebrate we’ll be having a bloc party!
We’ll be heading out to camp on the banks of Birrarung on July 8th so get your warm sleeping bags out and get ready for a cozy night around the fire.
Going on holiday or moving and taking your bike with you? Want to learn how to box your bike?
This one hour demonstration session with cover how to safely pack your bike into a box for transport.
Calling all easy-riders and aspiring bikepackers. We’ll be heading out into the Brisbane Range for an easy overnighter on March 25th/26th
We’ll be hosting a bikerafting night at Inner North Brewery with Ryan from Packraft Australia and Evan from Terra Rosa Gear on Wednesday the 12th of October. We’ll be covering some of the basics such as where to paddle and a bit on set -up and general packrafting. Hear trip reports from deep in the […]
A huge thanks to everybody who came to the 2022 edition of the Dirty Rat, the stoke for bike adventure has been reinvigorated!
The Dirty rat is a choose your own adventure west of Ararat into the area known as Gariwerd.
Join us for an evening of tales from those who participated in the inaugural Victoria Divide bikepacking event, a 550km trek across the rooftop of Victoria.
We’ve just landed our first few Salsas for 2019. We were super keen to see the new Cutthroat in the flesh given it’s domination of the tour divide route so built one up Friday. One very eager customer took it home with him on Saturday before we even got a chance to show you all a few pics!
Now that he’s back on home turf and running out of continents to ride across, he has decided to trade in the Ogre for something at bit more capable for everyday trail riding. This custom built Karate Monkey should be tough enough to take on the burliest of trails in his home state of Tasmania.
Sometimes during the process of tailoring a bike to suit a customers needs all elements come together to create something truly special. In this case Cjell Mone created one of the sweetest brazed frames known to man, then David walked in and fell in love that gold braze on raw steel. We complimented the frame with some parts from the best in the business.
The love child of a troll and an Ogre who were hanging under a bridge scaring cyclists? Not quite! Whilst sporting 650b boots that fit between the 26 and 29 inch size of the Troll and Ogre, the Bridge Club has long days on the road in the mind. It sports a geometry that allows back road adventures and the occasional singletrack.
We had first met Ben via email when he was gearing up to take on the inaugural Indian Pacific Wheel race in 2017. We helped deck him out with some Apidura kit and Dynamo power for the long stretches in the dark.
I’m back in the shop after a month in Bolivia. My partner and I fitted about 12 days of riding bikes into our holiday. Here’s a bit of a list of the gear we took and how we set our bikes up for some high plains drifting.
I’ve been rolling around the countryside on a Surly ECR since the first iteration hit the shelves in 2014 and I’ve become one of the biggest fans of the 29+ platform. It’s ability to tackle just about any type of terrain is unsurpassed. So when I heard of the new and improved ECR, I was very excited! There are some subtle yet great improvements this year. Medium and below get 650+ which will suit smaller riders much better than the 29+ wagon wheels.
MKS are best known for their high quality track pedals popular with Keirin racers of Japan, more recently they have brought back some old favorites as well as introducing some new casual platform pedal offerings. I recently tested out the new MKS Allways EZY pedals on a bikepacking trip to the Flinders ranges. The large […]
Our friend and talented wordsmith Pepper Cook has dropped a few musings about our latest installment of Commuter campout: Single Track. Whiskey. Leaping Frogs. Prairie Breakers. Large bearded men and one lady in flannos riding bikes adorned with front baskets, complete with decorative foliage. These are just a few items to be found in the […]
This new offering from Soma blends the best features of the Smoothie road bike and the Double cross disc into a versatile Road Disc package with generous tyre clearance. We recently received a frameset courtesy of Soma fabrications to build up. We’ve kept it more road centric than a lot of our Wolverine builds as the carbon fork and tighter geometry are screaming out for a build that is both fast and comfortable for all day rides.
Vaya is a road adventure and light touring bike, designed to handle any road surface, from pavement to gravel to dirt. The tubing selection and stable geometry across the line makes for a bike that feels great unloaded or loaded for a fast tour, soaking up unpredictable surfaces mile after mile, from one town to the next. Vaya is an extremely versatile machine, always ready and able if the path turns less than ideal.
Just before the new year the guys from Surly were in town so we headed up to the central coast to meet with them and check out the new Surly range for 2017. We were most interested in the new and redesigned Karate Monkey. This was the bike which started the 29er revolution being the first mass produced 29er available back in 2009.
The inaugural Hunt 1000 bikepacking event kicks off this Sunday, 27th November. Participants will be taking on a 1000km personal challenge through the Snowy mountains from Canberra to Melbourne. The challenge takes on the best fire trails and backroads the Snowy’s have to offer. Everybody will be self–sufficient, bringing all their own sleeping gear, food and emergency equipment. A suggested itinerary of 7-10 days has been put forward by the organisers however, some have set themselves a challenge to finish it faster. We have many friends and customers giving it a go and would like to share a bit about their bikes and set up.
A new addition to the adventure bike market, Hunt bikes from Canberra have put a new spin on the MTB tourer. This bike comes very capable, designed for long days in the saddle on rough terrain, it is essentially a bikepacking specific mountain bike!
The Soma Smoothie is an ode to the classic steel road bike. A few features set this apart from the standard off the shelf road bike. Room for 32mm slick tyres or fenders and 28mm tyres, this road bike becomes very capable. It also sports a relaxed geometry and tall head tube for all day riding. Rack and Fender mounts mean this bike can be set up for light touring and commuting too! We just love this years colour so felt compelled to build one up as a demo bike to show off just how great this bike is.
Since it’s inception the Surly Troll has been a favorite among World tourers and mountain bikers alike. The 26 inch wheels and an infinite possibility of set ups make it a very popular choice for a utilitarian bicycle. The more recent addition of the Ogre to the Surly line up of off road touring bikes have given 29ers a spotlight. Currently we’ve got good stock of frames and bikes so call in to see what we can do for you.